Onslow Ring Road Construction

Highway Construction and it’s JV partner, Albem Operations delivered the construction of an alternative primary all-weather route between the town of Onslow, its airport and the rest of Western Australia.

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The Onslow region is located approximately 1500km north of Perth, Western Australia. Over recent years it had undergone significant development with the State Government, Shire of Ashburton, Chevron Australia and BHP Billiton working together to deliver new infrastructure and community facilities for the town of Onslow.

The HAJV (Highway Construction/Albem Operations Joint Venture) commenced works to construct the new ring road in November 2015, to provide an alternative primary all-weather-link between Onslow Road, the town, and its airport.

Water constraints due to remoteness of location (and potable water needs of the nearby Onslow townsite) were a particular issue.

This issue was compounded by the existence of cohesionless dune sand onsite, which required constant water conditioning during earthworks.

The cut material also required watering to meet compaction requirements to ensure underlying integrity for the road pavement.

Investigations also showed a pre-existing on-road water infrastructure to be the only water source available for off-road water trucks – compounding the water management issue and also presenting potential traffic management challenges as the trucks would have needed to interface with the public. This issue was overcome by installing an additional off-road turkeys nest dam, a booster pump and additional 2km of pipeline.

Labour and accommodation shortages were also flagged as a potential challenge due to similar demands for Chevron’s nearby onshore Wheatstone Project, located approximately 12 kilometres from Onslow.

Other challenges included the identification and relocation of multiple services; intensive community relations due to the proximity of the site to the town; and sensitive management of areas of significance to local Aboriginal people.

The HAJV’s proactive approach to project management, which includes a strong communication ethic, ensured all potential issues were well managed, contributing to the overall successful delivery of the project.

Highway Construction is a West Australian owned and operated civil construction company founded in 1986. It specialises in the project management of road, bridge and pavement construction projects across Australia.